Rick was a newlywed. Chet had kids in high school. He volunteered for the Rock Mill Hill football team. Pyle and his wife had just had a baby. Thompson was his parents’ only child.
At one point, he schlepped to the kitchen for a glass of water, the midafternoon sun filling the room with gold. He was safe. The men were safe. And Elizabeth’s voice echoed in his head.
Thank God. Thank God.
Finding that old firebreak had been nothing short of a miracle. So yes, thank God. Thank God.
Back in bed, he fell into a sound sleep until the rich hues of the early evening flooded his room.
Thank God.
Ryder finished his coffee in his rocking chair, building a mental list of things to check, like the fire tower and how to write up his report. Yet really, all he wanted was a quiet night at home, a steak from his grill, a funny movie, and Elizabeth curled on the sofa next to him.
He wanted to smell the perfume of her hair and skin over the phantom scent of charred pine that lingered with him.
Setting aside his coffee cup, he tossed the ball for the dogs, and when they were panting and exercised, he headed back inside to scout the fridge and cupboards for something resembling breakfast. Nothing. He really needed to drop a couple hundred dollars at Cooper’s.
His third—or was it fourth?—nanny had taught him to make a mean omelet, but it required eggs, which he didn’t have. The idea of an omelet from Ella’s Diner, with the best home fries ever and a side of pancakes, made his stomach rumble. But…
Ryder glanced at his watch. It was almost six. Good chance Elizabeth was working.
“Your old man made a fool of himself, y’all.” Fred and Ginger listened with heads tilted, eyebrows twitching. “Told her I loved her. Yes sirree. Told her I loved…oh, but even worse. Told her she loved me too.” Fred barked. “I know, rookie move. Never tell a girl how she feels. My nanny, Isobel—you didn’t know her, but she told me to never tell a woman how she felt.” Ryder pointed to Fred. “So listen up.” At which time Ginger chimed in with a sharp bark. “Yeah, I knew you two understood every word.”
Still, the question remained. Did he go to the diner for a late breakfast-dinner or opt for a premade soup and sandwich at Java Jane’s?
By the end of his driveway, he knew the answer: Ella’s. He had to see her. Undo the words from his weary, smoke-filled brain. He’d claim he didn’t really know what he was saying. He’d apologize and be done with it.
He was about to turn toward River Road when it hit him. The fire tower sat right in the middle of last night’s blaze. Oh, be there. Please be there. He headed left, finding the narrow road leading to the old tower, the landscape as he feared: charred, crumbling trees and burnt fields.
He broke through the rubble into a bowl filled with a July sunset to see the tower standing defiantly strong.
“No way.” He jumped out of his truck and climbed the stairs, half expecting the remaining unrepaired steps to crumble, but they were intact. At the top, in the cab, he scanned the view before him.
Three hundred and sixty degrees of burnt woods, yet the fire tower stood. He could still smell the smoke and burnt embers. It would be spring and beyond before life would bloom again.
Yet the fire tower stood.
Ryder laughed, feeling a touch of the Divine. “I don’t know how You did it or why, but…thank God,” he said. “Thank God.”
Now he had to go to the diner. Elizabeth would never believe it.
“Everyone, a cheer for a hometown hero. He saved his men from the fire last night.”
Elizabeth looked through the service window as Tina’s voice sounded through the diner.
Ella’s patrons erupted with shouts and applause.
“Lucy, on the house for Ryder the rest of the summer. What can I get you to start, Ryder? How about my Hungry Man Meatloaf platter?” Tina escorted him to her “premium” booth—the one she saved for special guests—in the front corner by the window. “Best seat in the house.”
Ryder responded with something Elizabeth couldn’t hear, but when Tina handed him a copy of the Hearts Bend Tribune, she guessed he didn’t know he was the headline.
Wildlife Officer Ryder Donovan
Saves the Lives of His Men
She watched as he read, shifting in the booth, shaking his head, handing the paper back to Tina, saying something that looked like, “I’m no hero.”
Elizabeth set up an order of club sandwiches for table three, then turned to D’Angelo. “Can you watch the window for me? I’ll be right back.”
